Contaminated Dialysis

Contaminated Dialysis

The UK Dialysis Population is 35,000* patients annually, at least 2500 annual Hepatitis C infections at a 7% rate until 1991. In the report below once again the UK is last in the EU at participating in testing patients or publishing the problem

Report from the European Dialysis Treatment Association.

Background. The high prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus HCV antibodies in HD patients has been known since the early 1990s but its evolution over the last decade is poorly documented.

Methods. All chronic HD patients from HD units from eight other European countries, whose prevalence of anti-HCV (+) patients had been studied in 1991–1994 (and published except in one country...UK), were tested for anti-HCV antibodies in 1999.

Results. Anti-HCV (+) prevalence decreased (P<0.001) from 13.5 (1991) to 6.8% (2000) in the Belgian cohort (n = 1710) Prevalence also decreased (P<0.05) in the participating units from France (42–30%), Sweden (16–9%) and Italy (28–16%), tended to decrease in the participating units from UK (7–3%,P= 0.057) but did not change (NS) in the participating units from Germany (7 to 6%), Spain (5 to 12%) and Poland (42 to 44%). In the Belgian cohort, the prevalence of anti-HCV(+) at (re)start of HD did not change significantly over 1991–2000.n

Conclusion.The prevalence of anti-HCV(+) in HD has decreased markedly over the last decade in the participating units from most European countries. A reduction in the prevalence of anti-HCV(+) patients on HD has been mentioned previously, on the basis of the 1992 and 1993 European Dialysis and Transplant Association (EDTA) registry data reporting prevalences of 21 and 17.7%, respectively. The validity of the comparison between 1992 and 1993is questionable. Indeed, the prevalence was calculated in units ‘testing most or all HD patients for anti-HCV’.

In 1992, the proportion of such units was as low as 29% in UK or 48% in Finland.

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